# Young Boozer

Young Jacob Boozer III (born November 23, 1948) is an American politician who was the 39th State Treasurer of Alabama from 2011 to 2019 and is the 41st Treasurer, having been re-elected to a third term on November 8, 2022. He was elected to his first four-year term in 2010 and was unopposed and reelected to a second term in 2014.
Boozer is a member of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) currently serving as Chair of the Banking and Cash Management Committee. He also serves on the Governance Committee of NAST affiliate, CSPN (College Savings Plans Network). In 2019 Boozer received the Lucille Maurer Award given to a former treasurer for outstanding service to NAST.

## Early life and education

Boozer was born in Birmingham and raised in Tuscaloosa. He became an Eagle Scout in 1962. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971 from Stanford University and a master's degree in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973.
Boozer was named after his father, who first made the name Young Boozer famous as a football star for the University of Alabama. Young Jacob Boozer, Jr. is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. His father was named after his father, the mayor of Samson, Alabama from 1916 to 1919.

## Career

Prior to serving in public office, Boozer spent 35 years in banking, finance and investments which took him from Citibank in New York and Crocker National Bank in Los Angeles, to Coral Petroleum in Houston and Colonial Bank in Montgomery. From 2003 to 2017, he was an owner in the Montgomery Biscuits minor league baseball affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
After retiring from banking in 2007, Boozer became Deputy State Finance Director for Alabama Governor Bob Riley. He left the Riley administration in early 2010 to run for State Treasurer in his first race for elected office.
In 2002, he was recognized with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America.

### Treasurer of Alabama

After completing his second consecutive term as Treasurer in 2019, Boozer was Assistant Superintendent of the Alabama State Banking Department and a member of Governor Ivey's Study Group on Gambling Policy. On October 1, 2021, Governor Kay Ivey appointed Boozer as State Treasurer to complete the remaining term of John McMillan who resigned to serve as the executive director of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.

## Electoral history

Alabama Treasurer Republican Primary Election, 2010 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Young Boozer | 305,467 | 64.76 |
| Republican | George Wallace, Jr. | 166,206 | 35.23 |
Alabama Treasurer Election, 2010 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Young Boozer | 875,965 | 60.04 |
| Democratic | Charley Grimsley | 581,930 | 39.89 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 1,030 | 0.07 |
Alabama Treasurer Election, 2014 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Young Boozer | 748,876 | 98.01 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 15,224 | 1.99 |
Alabama Treasurer Election, 2022 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Young Boozer | 946,936 | 83.74 |
| Libertarian | Scott Hammond | 175,034 | 15.48 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 8,855 | 0.78 |

## Name

Boozer's combined given name and surname are the same as the humorous phrase "young boozer", which would refer to a young person who habitually drinks alcohol. In April 2010, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno mentioned Boozer in a segment, with host Jay Leno poking fun at his unique name. Boozer, who was at that time seeking to be elected for State Treasurer of Alabama, reacted by admitting that his name does get attention but expressed a desire for people to focus on his qualifications for the role. He later described the shoutout as "the best thing that ever happened to me" and mentioned that local university students were grabbing his roadside campaign signs and putting them up in dorm rooms and frat house bars.